T-bone Steak and fine dining dinner at Okitchen Yeouido, Korea T-bone Steak and fine dining dinner at Okitchen Yeouido, Korea For Valentine's Day, I wanted to treat my wife to a nice place for dinner. She is 5 months pregnant so I had to make sure that it was appropriate food for her so no raw foods or undercooked foods. Plus, she is quite picky so it couldn't be too lavish. Oh, and it was my brother-in-law's birthday and I couldn't leave my mother-in-law at home either. So a meal had to please the younger people while also pleasing to an older generation Korean that needs rice and kimchi at meals. I decided on Okitchen in Yeouiddo because I knew they had good salads and appetizers, plus good pasta and meat dishes. I could create a Korean meal there. The place is strangely located in the business district near Yeouiddo. It's in the basement and if I had not been a fan of the chef, I could have had the wrong impression. The place seems cold and characterl...

This is the full, unedited review on Isabelles The Butcher Steakhouse story that was originally published in the January Issue of Seoul Magazine. It has been reprinted by permission.-Dan Filet Mignon at Isabelles the Butcher Steakhouse in Itaewon Steak is more than just beef. It is symbol of a job well done, a special occasion, or a celebration. Now it can’t just be any steak- for a subpar steak can ruin an occasion. The cut, the aging, the sauces, and the quality of the sides represent your level of success. And the name is also important. A steakhouse should have a personality and exude some clout. When you say you are going to, let’s say, Peter Luger’s; it lets everyone know where you stand in the world. Isabelles the Butcher knows steak. The restaurant in Itaewon, although small, it is regally lit by candles and chandeliers. Although outside, there is the mad rush of the nightlife, Isabelles is refined and hushed- the perfect atmosphere to connect with your dinner guests. ...

I have a student that I do language exchange with and some times we decide to cook rather than talk. In this class I taught her how to make a steak. She said she really enjoys eating steak but at the restaurants it is often very expensive (40,000 won) for a little piece of steak. Cooking steak seemed to be a mystery to her. In our cooking class. I heated up a pan until it was smoking hot. I salted the steak with sea salt and then seared the steak on the pan, flipped it, added potatoes and stuck it in the oven until it was cooked. I don't add pepper until after because it will burn. Then I taught her the secret to a good steak: butter. I sauteed a bit of garlic and then mixed this into butter and put the butter into the freezer. Just as I served the steak, I added a dollop of butter. It melted on the steak. She really enjoyed it and said she would try doing the recipe for her family.